Lost Animal released Ex Tropical this week via Seattle’s Hardly Art. The Melbourne duo is comprised of Jarrod Quarrell (formerly of St. Helens) and bassist Shags Chamberlain, who has been a touring member with Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti. While we are told that the album’s thematics center around the childhood years Quarrell spent in Papua New Guinea: “learning to breakdance, play Kundu drums, and obsess[ing] over Micheal Jackson.”
However, there is also a dark mystery of emotion that hangs over the new LP like humid air. While on a track like “Lose the Baby” that emotion might seem belied in tone by the self-assured piano and drum machine rhythm, Jarrod Quarrell’s poetic sneer delivers a series of stinging deadpan lacerations. Today you can watch the duo’s macabre video for “Say No To Thugs” as well as giving a listen to that tough-talkin’ track, “Lose the Baby”.
